The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Council delays automatic rise in parking charges
THE LEADER of Fife Council, Councillor Alex Rowley, has asked officials to delay an automatic increase in parking charges for town centre car parks.
It emerged a fortnight ago that Fifers could be expected to pay up to 40p more to use town centre car parks from August 5, which could boost Fife Council coffers by £114,000.
A policy was introduced to Fife Council in 2005 for an annual increase in parking charges of inflation plus 1%.
Mr Rowley said the policy has now been shelved pending review.
He said: “Over the last number of months we have been looking at options for changing the way we charge for parking in our towns that would provide support for more people using the centres.
“It is also the case that the environment, finance and corporate services scrutiny committee looked at these charges and recommended that we scrap the inflation plus 1% charge for parking as they did not think the policy was the best way to manage car parking.
“Given these facts and that a review is under way around car parking more generally I have asked council officers not to proceed with the annual increase of inflation plus 1% and to bring a report to the executive committee by September outlining the options for change to this policy.”
Asked about proposals to bring in charges to railway station car parks in Fife, which were shelved following a public outcry last year, Mr Rowley confirmed the possibility of charges was “not off the table”, but said the issue of town centre parking was being treated separately at this time.
Kirkcaldy MSP David Torrance, who was a councillor and member of the SNP Fife Council administration when annual increases were implemented, claimed such increases could harm town centre trade.
Yesterday he confirmed that despite increases also coming when he was a councillor, he had been disappointed when it looked like a further increase in parking charges would be coming in for Kirkcaldy town centre.
He said: “This is an administration that maintains that it is promoting the regeneration of Kirkcaldy High Street, but these proposals, which will increase parking charges by 20%, go against everything that the Scottish Government is trying to do to help with town centre regeneration.”
Mr Torrance said he was also concerned about fines for shoppers who overstay their time limit, adding: “This can only be seen as a blatant money making exercise to generate revenue from those who choose to shop in Kirkcaldy town centre.
“The resulting increase in charges could easily discourage shoppers from using the town centre and make the neighbouring retail parks with free parking much more appealing. This would not only result in a decrease in footfall in the town centre, but could lead to even more shop closures and a subsequent loss of jobs.”